Quality Translations of Chinese Light Novels

Ch.51 Walter Gets Stolen (Part I)

Walter started shivering. He knew that whenever the little devil smiled like this, someone would pay. Walter felt a little sympathy for the people in the hall.

“Your excellency, you have finally arrived. We have been waiting for a long time.” From the middle of the hall, an elaborately dressed middle-aged man was walking over slowly. His face was abnormally white, his steps unstable, obviously a man who indulged in women and drinking. Although his words were polite, there wasn’t a single trace of respect in them. In their eyes, this young girl was only a male-chaser, becoming the castellan only through the prominence of her family. So what if she was from the Hill clan? The emperor was far away currently. How could they not straighten out this young and inexperienced child? Threaten her first, then offer a few benefits. But they couldn’t overdo it, because the master of the little girl was Sir Cliff. Fortunately Sir Cliff didn’t come, or things would get a little tricky.

Claire watched the middle-aged man walking towards her while smiling the whole time, making the middle-aged man happy internally. He was glad that the child was indeed easy to straighten out.

But Claire saw the contempt in his eyes clearly.

“Your excellency, your servant is Flinn Menda. The qualities your excellency exhibited during this plague… ” The middle-aged man called Flinn was the head of all the nobles in Niya. He put what he thought was a charming smile on his face, continuously praising. First flatter, then coerce, and finally, lay out conditions: this the way they usually did things.

But soon, his charming smile froze on his face.

Because Claire raised her hand quietly to stop what he was going to say.

This was very rude behaviour.

All the nobles in the hall were stunned. Although Claire was the castellan, she was only the lowest baron. And she made such a rude gesture? No castellan had ever dared to be so rude to them nobles.

“Everyone knows that the plague had just ended, and there are still a lot of matters to settle. I need help from you; I’m sure that each and every one of you are kind-hearted and generous.” Claire spoke, smiling at the doorway.

When Claire gave such a speech, the expression on the faces of Flinn and the rest of the nobles changed. Claire’s meaning was very clear: she would not let them increase the prices on goods.

But Claire didn’t even glance at him. Instead, she raised her head to speak to the crowd. “I know that you invited me here today to prove your loyalty to the country. I’m sure that you have already agreed to lower all daily supplies sold by the trade union by twenty percent to help the people of Niya city. Another thing: I will be soon be leaving on a trip with my master Cliff, and while I’m gone, Heath will still take over my role as a castellan. I have faith that all of you will help Heath diligently, returning Niya to its prosperity.”

As soon as Claire finished speaking, the whole hall boiled.

The crowd was gossiping among themselves, and Flinn’s expression was extremely ugly. He didn’t think that this little girl would take the initiative, first giving them such a big responsibility, then saying her decision.

“Your excellency, you should also know that the founding of our trade union wasn’t easy. During this plague, we also experienced serious losses… ” Flinn’s face was green as he complained.

“Are you saying that the castellan’s words have no authority? Is loyalty worth a penny? Are you trying to say that not only are you unwilling to lower prices, but you plan to increase the prices and make money out of the crisis? And exploit harshly the already poor and grievous people?” Yixuan Feng now spoke fiercely, glaring and cursing at Flinn. He pointed at the elaborate decorations in the hall.

“This is what you call experiencing serious losses? Whoa, look at this crystal chandelier, market price five thousand gold coins. And this table set is from the Feng Family Trade Union, huh? At least two thousand gold coins. And this rug is a foreign import and costs at least eight thousand gold coins!”

Flinn opened his mouth wide, completely astonished. Who was this black haired red eyed youth? So rude and arrogant! The castellan also didn’t do anything about it. And the prices he listed for each item were so precise.

“You! Who are you? Speaking so rudely!” Flinn came back to his senses and started thundering. Although this black haired youth was dressed nicely, his language was rude and Flinn had not heard of any other nobles accompanying the castellan, so this youth probably didn’t have any background. Perhaps, he could be the weak link in their party and Flinn might get a chance to correct his mistake.

“Yes… ” Flinn answered absent-minded, then came back to his senses and shouted, “Absolutely not. Our loyalty to the country is open for everyone to see.”

“Then, Baron Flinn, you have agreed to lower prices by twenty percent?” Once again, Claire put on a brilliant smile.

“Well, this, I agree, but the other trade unions… ” Flinn was riding on a tiger and unable to get off, so he pretended to be awkward. He looked at the other nobles in the hall and continued, “Your excellency, as you have also seen, my family is richer and still able to maintain itself despite the losses suffered from the plague, but my colleagues… ” It doesn’t matter if he lowered the prices. If need be, he could just close his shop and take his goods to his relatives’ shops and still make a lot of money.

“That’s right, your excellency, Baron Flinn is able to maintain, but it’s hard for us.” A fat man immediately walked over and interrupted.

“You could lose some weight.” Wenmo Shui humphed coldly, extremely annoyed by looking at the parasites in the room. These people wanted to make money out of the crisis, but pretended to be so pitiful.

“Who are you? You’re interrupting my talk with the castellan.” Once he heard Wenmo Shui jab at his sore spot, the fat man used this as an excuse to explode in anger.

The hall became noisy as more people started blaming Wenmo Shui. There was finally a weak point on the castellan’s side; how could they let it go? He was only a servant of the castellan. A lowly peasant being so rude to a noble would only end up hanged.

But Wenmo Shui only humphed and looked indifferently to the side.

“Your excellency, you also saw it. Your servant was so rude to me. A peasant insulted the authority of us nobles. I ask for you to punish him harshly! Hang him right now.” The stupid fat man exclaimed indignantly, his spit flying everywhere.

Claire glanced at Wenmo Shui and suddenly lowered her voice so that only they could hear. “Wenmo Shui, his spit flew onto your hair.”

The next moment, Wenmo Shui’s face became very red, an indication that he was about to fly into a rage.

With a “whoosh”, Wenmo Shui had pulled out his sword, his violet DouQi radiant. A magnificent ray of DouQi slashed towards that fat noble.

A deep crack appeared on the red-carpeted floor, reaching all the way until the fat noble’s feet. If it went forward just a tiny bit, the fat guy would probably be dead.

The hall was deathly silent.

Everyone looked at the scene in front of them, stunned.

That handsome youth was actually a grand swordsman! And such a dangerous person too, using force for no reason at all! Without any respect to people or place! If he used just a bit more strength, that aristocrat would be dead!

The fat man finally realized what happened and his fat legs started shaking uncontrollably.

“You, you… ” The fat man couldn’t even get a whole sentence out, only pointing at Wenmo Shui with a trembling finger. He was extremely afraid. Why is such a dangerous person with the castellan?

The aristocratic women and girls who were attracted by Wenmo Shui before were now frightened, and they decided not to hook up with Wenmo Shui after the banquet as they planned to.

“Aiya, hehe, I’m so sorry. My guards are just like this, unable to control themselves when they see someone unrespectful towards me.” Claire smiled like flower. “And as for the hanging this nobleman here mentioned, I’m afraid that’s a little hard to do. No one in Niya is his match.” Was there any sincerity in this apology? Was there? Was there? It was very obviously that not only wasn’t there any sincerity, it was full of pleasure.

The hall was deathly silent.

Everyone’s expression was ugly. Most people wanted to criticize her, but because of Claire’s strong backing, Cliff, they couldn’t say anything too harsh.

Flinn knitted his brows tightly, thinking about how to get the upper hand back.

“Ahem, ahem~~ ” Suddenly, Claire straightened her expression and coughed slightly, and said pretentiously, “Wenmo Shui, how could you do that, treating this noble like this?”

When everyone heard that, their expressions became lighter. So the castellan still had to rebuke her guard on the surface.

Flinn’s face also relaxed a bit. So this little child wasn’t too uncooperative and knew when to stop.

“Oh, it’s my fault.” Wenmo Shui pouted and answered unwillingly.

“Yes, it’s your fault. Next time you come across such a situation, don’t give any mercy; just slice him into half.” Claire’s smile was brilliant and charming, but her words were dark.

As soon as Claire finished speaking, the expressions of all the people in the hall changed greatly. Disbelief was in every eye. They couldn’t believe that a pretty, sunny little girl would say something like this.

“Yes, yes.” Wenmo Shui nodded and laughed evilly.

“If you do that next time, I’ll increase your wage.” Claire’s casual words were like tons of stones on the nobles’ hearts. They were so casual, not caring about their status as aristocrats or their lives.

Everyone stared at Claire. Right now, all they were thinking was how frightening Claire’s smile looked.

“Haha, I’m very willing to do so.” Hearing this, Wenmo Shui laughed gleefully. In truth, one gold coin per month was way too little.

“Then what about me, will I get wages if I kill him now?” Yixuan Feng interrupted hurriedly. After all, he was working for free.

“Maybe next time. It’ll depend on which one of you is faster.” Claire replied insipidly.

Jean watched this silently, a light flashing through his eyes as he looked at Claire.

The casual conversation between the three infuriated and frightened the nobles in the hall. Nobody dared to interrupt. Even their families didn’t have the power to defeat the grand swordsman.

Flinn’s gaze was furious. This little child was pushing it too far! Who did she think she was?! He would find a way to report to the emperor of her unrespectfulness and reckless attitude. Just wait and see!

It wouldn’t end like this!

“You all know that I’m busy these days, so I won’t stay long. I will tell the emperor of your sacrifice for Niya and your loyalty to the country and make sure he rewards you. Please enjoy your rewards. I’m going to take my leave.” Claire smiled gracefully, nodded towards the people, and then turned around and left.

The beautiful men also turned around and followed behind Claire elegantly, leaving many red-faced nobles.

And like so, they walked out the door. Jean handed Claire a jacket for protection from the sun. Claire put it on, and instead of getting on the carriage, she strolled around on the streets. Everything Claire needed was in the pockets of the jacket, including the still asleep White Emperor.

Niya had finally returned to it’s usual prosperity. Many people came up and greeted Clarie when they saw her, gratitude written all over their faces. At first they didn’t trust her, but now they worshipped her.

Suddenly, a little girl in a flower-print dress rushed up to Claire with a bouquet of flowers. She raised up the flowers and smiled. “Big sister, this is for you.”

Claire looked at the innocent smile of the little girl and was stunned. From the depths of her eyes was pure gratitude and happiness.

“Big sister made Mother well again, so big sister is a good person.” The little girl held up the flowers stubbornly, as if she wouldn’t put them down if Claire didn’t accept them.

“Mary, what are you doing?” The rebuking voice of an adult sounded in the distance and then a young man dressed like a commoner ran up hurriedly, his expression terrified. He looked at Claire and explained, “Your excellency, I’m sorry, the child is still young and disobedient.”

A smile slowly appeared on Claire’s face as she bent down and accepted the flowers from the little girl. She patted the little girl’s head and said, “Thank you, the flowers are beautiful.”

The young man was shocked. Born a noble, yet the castellan was so approachable?

“Big sister, you will always protect us, right?” The little girl asked happily when she saw that Claire accepted the flowers.

Claire smiled as she looked at the young man and said, “No need to be so cautious. Your child is very adorable. If there are any problems in the future, just go to the castle and find the proxy castellan. He will help you.”

Walter asked wickedly, “Claire, since when were you so kind?” After Walter finished asking, he waited for Claire’s life threatening pinch, but even after a long time, there was no response.

Claire was silent, not saying a word.

Kind?

Really?

Why was this word so ridiculous?

Seeing Claire’s silence, Walter started to become add more fuel. “Claire, what kind of style are you doing today? Just then you were laughing, telling someone to kill someone and dismember their dead body, now you’re adorably and kindly deceiving that man’s little girl. Was it something you ate or drank…” Walter chattered on without end.

Claire was silent. She went forward slowly, like she was pondering over something.

At that moment, a small youngster walked over and brushed past them.

Once Claire came back to her senses, she discovered that Walter’s voice was going farther and farther away!

What was going on?

“Claire, damn you, you idiot, I’ve been stolen! Just then when that guy brushed past you guys, they stole from your bag! If you still don’t quickly come over here and save me…” Walter furiously shouted.

What?! Claire’s expression changed. The youth who had just brushed past them? They actually stole from her. Claire promptly felt her bag and sure enough, found her wallet and the spiritual stone gone. White Emperor was still sleeping peacefully and everything else was still there. It was just that the money and the spiritual stone was gone.

“What is it, Claire?” Yixuan Feng asked with a tilted head. He discovered that something was wrong with Claire.